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Repetition Repetition’s Fit for Consequences: Original Recordings, 1984-1987 enters our collective orbit today via Freedom To Spend. The very first archival survey of the minimalist electronic duo of Steve Caton and Ruben Garcia, the release collects select material from across their catalog, bringing their work to open ears and minds. ➕➗➕

The pair set out to explore new worlds with just synths and guitars, immediately revealing a shared mind impossibly tuned to the hypnotic possibilities of stylistic convergence. Tapping into a source deeper than their own personal stylistic predilections, Caton and Garcia worked across a wide spectrum of emotive sonics ranging from shimmering, beautiful ambience, to haunting electronic grit.

Though they remained largely under the radar during their initial tenure, while still finding crucial support from fans and collaborators like Harold Budd, KCRW deejays Brent Wilcox and Dean Suzuki, and Barry Craig’s, aka A Produce, influential, scene-scanning trance port tapes compilations. With Fit for Consequences, Freedom To Spend sees to it that the private worlds of Garcia and Caton can now be visited by all rather than just the count-‘em-on-both-hands lucky few whose musical endeavors or collector vocations carried them into this once-distant dimension.

We’re honored to play a small role in preserving the legacy of Ruben, who passed away in 2013, and grateful to Garcia’s family and Steve, pictured above, for the support in producing this collection.

Fit for Consequences is available now on CD, all digital platforms, and a first run of 550 LP, directly from the Freedom To Spend and RVNG webstores. Listening unchained.

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The group pursued a kind of maximalist approach to minimalism, cramming worlds into just a few finely-tuned textures. Fascinated with the power of repetition, they found ascendancy via continuous unfolding, allowings their ideas to spill out and reveal themselves through their progressive aural constructions.

“This time, I wanted to create music that flows cinematically and sets a landscape to tell a love story that flirts with improbability, the miraculous and the mysterious” .𖥔 ݁ ˖ 𓁺

Today we share “divina,” arriving with the electrifying announcement of Lucrecia Dalt’s upcoming album A Danger to Ourselves. A fearless reflection on the unfiltered complexities of human connection, her latest eschews the lens of fictional narrative present on the artist’s last several projects. Dalt opts instead for a sense of direct, vulnerable communication that acts as a conscious move away from the protection of isolated fictions and narratives.

Although a deeply intimate, self-surveying record, Dalt has brought the world to a life alongside a series of crucial collaborators, such as lauded multi-instrumentalist David Sylvian, Alex Lazaro, Juan Molina, Camille Mandoki, Cyrus Campbell, and Eliana Joy. Conventional boundaries are transgressed as the music becomes both mirror and window.

“divina” moves between Spanish and English through elastic soundscapes and mesmerizing audial collage, embodying both the luscious, adventurous sound of the record, and Dalt’s new tendency toward declarative lyricism birthed from self-truths.

A Danger to Ourselves is available for pre-order now, direct from the RVNG webstore on digital, CD, black LP, and a limited edition LP with alternate cover, 200 copies of which are signed by Lucrecia. The album arrives in full Friday, September 5th.

 

We welcome Under a Familiar Sun into the world today. The latest from The Vernon Spring, the vessel of composer and producer Sam Beste, and his RVNG debut, these twelve elegant, empathetic compositions speak to an age of moral uncertainty, diving headfirst into a rippling unknown.

Under a Familiar Sun marks a shift in creative approach, eschewing the kind of on the fly, single-day session style of working sam has oft-utilized in the past in-favor of a more focused, intricate production. Ripe with samples, field recordings, and unexpected textures, the many memorable melodies strewn across the record embolden a meaningful, magical center.

Sam’s musical voice and spirit of sonic exploration open endless doors for himself and host of collaborators on Under a Familiar Sun, including vocalist/producer/astrophysicist Aden, poet Max Porter, cellist Kate Ellis, and co-producer Iko Niche.

It’s been a joy to help facilitate this record and sam’s work, each return listen truly brings new meaning and feeling. Arriving alongside a lovely, loving visual language from Eric Timothy Carlson and Anthony Anderson, the world of the album breathes beyond its strictly auditory confines, and, as you may find, is quite easy to get lost in.

Under a Familiar Sun is out today May 9. The limited edition blue & green “Oisin” color LP is sold out now due to a shipping snafu, but the black LP, and digital editions are available in abundance via the RVNG webstore, as well as across all digital platforms. Happy listening, and losing yourself.

At last, Satomimagae’s Taba arrives in the world today.

In Japanese, taba means “bunch, bundle, ream, a grouping of several separate things together.” Fittingly, Satomi has described her new album as a collection of short stories. Moving away from linear songwriting, taba takes form though circuitous echoes and suggestions of a whole, drawn from fleeting scenes of communal life.

Taba is an observation of existing in conversation with one’s own surroundings, and satomi explores a range of emotional avenues and sonic pathways in service of that pursuit. Now, the inward gaze extends beyond the confines of the self, generously reflecting the world and at large and all the spirits that live within it ₊˚.༄

One final petal from Satomimagae’s Taba before the record blooms in full this friday, April 25th.

Mesmerically anthemic, “Tonbo” winds around itself, deeper into an odyssey of surprising, delightful sounds. throughout Taba, Satomi toys with an expanded sonic palette, injecting new textures into a songwriting form that often allows as much space for ornate instrumental passages as for the words themselves.

Once again, Satomi and frequent collaborator Norio have crafted a beautiful video, concerned with finding beauty and stillness in our swirling modern world.